Sanctification is not Optional

Now before I get started breaking down these terms I want you to understand that, as Christians, sanctification is entirely monergistic in its nature, meaning that it is done entirely by God. It is not synergistic, meaning you do your part and God does his. And it’s an important distinction because the Bible is very plain when it says we are saved by grace, through faith. It is very plain when it says Christ is the author and perfector of our faith. So it’s very clear from the Bible that we can do nothing of our own power to make ourselves more Christ-like. Anything we do to make ourselves more holy in our own power makes us more like the Pharisees than Christ. I know sanctification happens entirely through the power of the Holy Spirit in you, this is what Christ meant when he called him our helper. After we have been saved, we’ve repented of our sin trusted Christ to forgive us we are then justified and sanctified. This is known as definitive sanctification. It refers to the decisive break with, or separation from, sin as a ruling power in a believer’s life. It is a onetime event that happens when we accept Christ’s gift of salvation. Sin no longer dominates our lives. That’s why the Bible says we are dead to sin. It doesn’t have the hold on us that it once did. That doesn’t mean that sin isn’t a problem, sin wars against us and hence our struggle, but it doesn’t have the hold over us it once did. We can see sin for what it is, the non-Christian doesn’t have that ability, they see sin as “bad-habits” that they need to break.

Progressive Sanctification happens slowly, over time we change and become more and more Christ-like, in our response to the world, how we interact with the world, and how we see the world. As we grow in holiness our world view shifts from an earthly